Provincial News

Ontario Making Schools Safer for Students with Prevalent Medical Conditions

New Policy Requires Care Plan to Support Students

Ontario is making schools safer for students with prevalent medical conditions, by requiring school boards to provide individual care plans for these students to manage their daily medical needs.

Mitzie Hunter, Minister of Education, made the announcement today at Holy Name Catholic School in Toronto.

By next school year, all school boards across Ontario will be required to have policies in place to improve the safety of students with anaphylaxis, asthma, diabetes and epilepsy. Boards will be required to provide students that have medical conditions with a plan of care, which outlines contacts and procedures tailored to the individual needs of the student.

The province has worked in collaboration with education partners and health-based organizations, including The Lung Association - Ontario, Asthma Canada, Food Allergy Canada, Epilepsy Ontario, the Canadian Paediatric Society, and Diabetes Canada. These partners have also assisted in developing educational resources that will support training for educators and help raise awareness about medical conditions in schools.

Supporting the physical health and well-being of students, educators and staff is part of our plan to create jobs, grow our economy and help people in their everyday lives.

Quick Facts

The policy is known as PPM 161- Supporting Children and Students with Prevalent Medical Conditions (Anaphylaxis, Asthma, Diabetes, and/or Epilepsy) in Schools.

The ministry has also been consulting with teacher federations, education worker unions, principal associations, and school board leadership on the development of this PPM.

The ministry has supported Ophea, the Ontario Education Services Corporation, and health-based organizations to develop new, and adapt existing, resources to support school boards in implementing this PPM.

The Ministry of Education will continue to work with education partners, health organizations and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to build on this work and continue to strengthen supports for students with medical conditions in schools.